Understanding the ethical legitimacy of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship in Indonesia in the context of increased government regulation: a legitimacy-as-perception perspective
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Date
2022-04-07
Authors
Tjandra, Nathalia Christiani
Garavan, Thomas N.
Aroean, Lukman
Prabandari, Yayi Suryo
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Emerald Publishing Limited
Published Version
Abstract
Purpose: The authors explore the metaphors people from Indonesia use to describe their propriety beliefs about the ethical legitimacy of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS). This paper aims to understand why there is a consensus of propriety beliefs about the ethical legitimacy of TAPS in the face of increased government regulations and international criticism of such marketing practices. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected from 71 study participants using both focus groups and in-depth photo-elicitation interviews. Findings: The participants use three sets of metaphors to describe propriety beliefs. First, participants used metaphors that described the centrality of TAPS and smoking in Indonesian society. Second, they used metaphors that described TAPS regulations and regulators and third, they used metaphors that described the activities of tobacco firms. Participants’ photographs revealed strong collective validity of TAPS within Indonesia and strong propriety beliefs consensus. Research limitations/implications: This study is one of the first to integrate legitimacy-as-perception theory and the ecological systems framework to gain a multilevel insight into the TAPS activities are perceived as legitimate and, therefore, not unethical. Practical implications: The findings have important implications for tobacco control regulators who wish to curtail TAPS in a country where all levels of the ecological system reinforce their collective validity. Policy and regulative initiatives must, therefore, be used in a systemic way to change this collective validity. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to use a legitimacy perspective to understand the ethical legitimacy of TAPS in marketing literature. It is also the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to use the three legitimacy-as-perception constructs: propriety beliefs, collective validity and consensus of propriety beliefs. The authors show that despite increased government regulations and international disapproval, TAPS continues to be considered ethically legitimate in Indonesia.
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Keywords
Ethical legitimacy , Ethical perception , Indonesia , Legitimacy , Legitimacy-as-perception theory , Promotion and sponsorship , Qualitative research , TAPS , Tobacco advertising , Tobacco marketing
Citation
Tjandra, N. C., Garavan, T. N., Aroean, L. and Prabandari, Y. S. (2022) 'Understanding the ethical legitimacy of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship in Indonesia in the context of increased government regulation: a legitimacy-as-perception perspective', European Journal of Marketing, 56(4), pp. 1042-1064. doi: 10.1108/EJM-06-2019-0512